After sitting through three days of the Major League Draft, former Alabama A&M pitcher Brandon Marsonek finally got a phone call from a Major League team Wednesday evening.

Though the call wasn’t to tell him he was selected in baseball’s annual draft, it was, nonetheless, a call with a free-agent contract offer from the Oakland A’s.

Marsonek, who finished seventh in the nation this past season with 137 strikeouts, signed the contract and will report this weekend to the A’s minicamp in Mesa, Ariz.

“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Marsonek said. “I want to thank my family, coaches and all the people around me who supported me.”

Bulldogs Head Coach Mitch Hill said Marsonek is deserving of the opportunity by his hard work at A&M.

“I knew he was special when he stepped on campus,” Hill said. “It’s very well-deserved to get this opportunity.

“It’s no doubt he’s a hard worker and it has shown over the past two years.”

Marsonek was second nationally with 38 mound appearances. He was named the SWAC First-Team relief pitcher after leading the conference in strikeouts, appearances and innings pitched (111.1).

He had a 2.91 earned run average and opponents hit just. .237 against him. Marsonek averaged 11.07 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched which was 36th nationally and tops in the SWAC.

He has a two-year total of 225 strikeouts, which is an all-time Alabama A&M record and his 137 strikeouts this season is a single-season school record.

Marsonek is the second former Alabama A&M baseball player to sign a contract with a Major League team.

Cleon Jones, who played football and baseball with the Bulldogs as a freshman in 1961-62, signed with the New York Mets in the summer of 1962. He then went on to a stellar career, including a World Series championship in 1969.